Book Reviews

The Psychoanalytic Study of the Child. Edited by Ruth S. Eissler, AnnaFreud, Marianne Kris, & Albert.J. Solnit. New Haven: Yale UniversityPress, 1974, 544 pp., $15.00.

Adolescent Psychiatry, Vol. 3. Edited by Sherman C. Feinstein & PeterGiovacchini. New York: Basic Books, Inc., 1974, 456 pp., $17.50.

The Competent Infant. Edited by L. Joseph Stone, Henrietta T. Smith, &Lois B. Murphy. New York: Basic Books, 1974, 1344 pp., $30.00.

Review of Child Development Research, Vol. I I I: Child Development andSocial Policy. Edited by Bettye M. Caldwell & Henry N. Ricciuti. Chi­cago, Ill.: University of Chicago Press, 1973, 581 pp., $15.00.

Tom Tom. By Thomas F. Lalor. New York: Harper & Row, 1973, 106pp., $4.95.

A number of volumes appear that are compendiums put together by aneditor, in an effort to bring together the pertinent material in a field.Such volumes. together with a number of books of considerable interestthat should be brought to the attention of our readers, will be notedbriefly.

The 1974 volume of The Psychoanalytic Study of the Child has recentlybeen circulated. It hardly seems possible that this is the 29th volume ofthis distinguished series. Many of the pioneers are passing away, and thisvolume is dedicated in memoriam to Berta Bornstein, with writings bystudents and friends. The volume is divided into the usual sections-Con­tributions to Psychoanalytic Theory, Aspects of Normal and PathologicalDevelopment, Clinical Contributions, Applications to Psychoanalysis.Under new editorship, this worthwhile contribution to the broad field ofthe study of children has maintained the high standards of excellence ex­pected by a growing readership.

Volume 3 of Adolescent Psychiatry is making an increasing impact on thisfield. A group of distinguished authors present developmental and clini­cal studies which are improved by the editors' introductions to each sec­tion. The volume is divided into five parts: Adolescence: GeneralConsiderations; Developmental Stages in the Adolescent Process; Psycho­therapy of Adolescence; Delinquency and Violence As an Adolescent Ad­aptation; and The Educational Needs of Adolescents in PsychiatricHospitals. This volume, too, may become a companion piece for scholarsin the field of adolescence as is The Psychoanalytic Study of the Child. It ishoped it will grow with distinction.

The Competent Infant is a compilation of a group of published papersthat have gained the stature of classics in the field. Some 200 papers arepresented in various chapters, divided as follows: Individuality in Devel­opment; Prenatal and Perinatal Development; The Capabilities of theNewborn; Development During Year One; Early Experience: Deprivation

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and Enrichment; The Social Infant. Rather than reproducing each articlein its entirety, the editors have selected the major points. Each section ispreceded by an extensive discussion by the editors, bringing coherenceand relevance to each topic. III such a collection, of course, there aremany old friends and some conspicuous by their absence. The major con­tributors to this rapidly. growing field have been included. The era of in­fancy has become a major concern to research workers and clinicians, andthe authors have integrated the most recent findings, making this a book­length review of infant behavior. Although it may in time be outdated, itwill be a classic in the field and is recommended for perusal by all stu­dents of this interesting and fascinating area of development. The bookopens with a quotation that delights this reader, as does the volume itself,"Passing hence from infancy, I came to boyhood, or rather it came to me,displacing infancy. Nor did that dcpart,-(for whither went it?)-and yetit was no more" (Confessions of Saint Augustine).

The long-awaited volume of Review (1' Child Development Research is ascholarly presentation of major research directions in the field. Most ofthe articles are reviews of current concepts and research perspectives.Especially rccommended is the extensive review by Mary Ainsworth onthc "Development of Infant-Mothcr Attachment." This is a thorough re­view of the field with a bibliography of over 250 citations, and is a much­needed and excellent summary. Other pertinent areas discussed are: con­trol of aggression, children in fatherless homes, social class and child de­velopment, and others. This volume has maintained the excellenceachieved in the first two, and is recommended to all.

Finally, Tom Tom, a small book written in a conversational tone, is a lov­ing account by a father of a brain-damaged boy, describing the trials andtribulations of such a child. This inspiring account depicts pointed lessonsfor all who work and live with children who have developmentally dis­abling problems. Although overly sentimental in parts, it is one of the bet­ter accounts written by a parent.

Book Review Editor

Childhood Psychosis: Initial Studies and New Insights. By LeoKanner. New York: Halstead Press, 1973, 283 pp., $10.95.

Clinical Studics in Childhood Psychoscs. Edited by S. A. Szurckand I. N. Berlin. New York: Brunner/Maze!, 1973, 780 pp.,$20.00.

Reviewed by Donald S. Cair, M.D.

There is great reward in reading these two books. One is exposed to awealth of accumulated clinical wisdom as onc is taken on a guided tour

Dr. Gair is Director, Garbler Children's Unit, Metropolitan State Hospual, Waltham, Massachusetts,and Assistant Clinical Professor uJ Psvchiatrs. Harvard Medical School.